The Doll Collector
by dragonstorybooks
Summary: A mysterious dragon in a horse-drawn carriage has recently appeared in town, and ever since then, Female Academy Students have disappeared. In order to connect everything, Spyro and Cynder have been called in to investigate, but what happens if Cynder becomes the next victim? I do not own anything related to Spyro or his allies. Part One of the Return of Malefor. Enjoy the Show!
1. The Doll Collector Strikes!

**Dragonstorybooks presents:**

**The Doll Collector**

Pro**l**ogue: The Doll Collector

It's a cold, stormy night in Warfang, not exactly the night to be out wouldn't you say? A young dragoness by the name of Flare is walking down the street. She's a 17 year old Fire Elemental Dragoness wearing of the Dragon Academy, a rather large university in the center of town, which she attends. Flare is on her way back to her dorm after a night of partying with her friends, when she gets slightly lost on the shady streets.

"Okay, now what do I do" she mutters to herself as she looks around her surroundings.

Not a minute after she ended up in this situation, a horse-drawn carriage pulls up in front of her, the door opens, revealing a tall, dark-scaled dragon in his mid-to-late 40's wearing a black suit and a top hat.

"My dear, its best you get into shelter quickly, you'll die of a cold out here" he said, beckoning her inside the carriage, supposedly for her own health and safety.

"Much obliged sir" Flare tells the mysterious Dragon as she enters the carriage, unaware about the fate that will soon befall her.

Once inside the carriage, Flare gets a bit of a better look at the mysterious figure, revealing that he has red eyes and VERY sharp teeth, yes you can tell that from a distance. That's when the strangest thing happens.

"I've been looking for someone to give this to for a long time" the mysterious figure says as he pulls out a small box and hands it to Flare, who opens it revealing a red silken dress with black and yellow accents, obviously hand sown.

"It's lovely, but I'm really not that kind of girl." Flare said, putting the lid back on the box.

"Oh, but soon you will be" the mysterious figure says as he pulls out a strange item that looks like a powder horn with a skull decal on it.

As he's about to open the powder horn, the view shifts to outside the carriage, where we can hear Flare screaming as a flash of light erupts behind the windows. As the scene ends, the last thing we see is the carriage door opening and a small garment is flung out the door as the carriage pulls away. In a flash of lightning, the garment is revealed to be Flare's Academy Uniform.

**Talk about a crazy ending! Note, this will not be anything like my other fanfictions, as the story is completely is original, not franchise characters in the roles of other ones. Note, this story is partially inspired by an episode of Criminal Minds called "The Uncanny Valley". If you enjoy this kind of story more than my other ones, give me a message and I'll post more of these! Enjoy the first episode of The New Spyro and Cynder Chronicles!**


	2. The Investigation Begins

Chapter 1: The Investig**a**tion

It's the day after Flare disappeared, and of course her friends are worried out of their minds. Ignitus, the Headmaster of the Dragon Academy, is worried as well.

"Hmmm… Something is definitely wrong. Flare's been missing for 24 hours and she's never missed a class before" Ignitus says to himself, noting what he had to do. "I know just who to call in." Ignitus reaches for a Red Phone on his desk and dials a number.

We're then shown another office, which is mostly decorated with battle relics and pieces of Grublin Armor on the walls. This is Spyro and Cynder's office, yes they teach here too. A red phone similar to the one in Ignitus' office is on the desk closest to the door.

After about two seconds of waiting, Spyro and Cynder enter their shared office as they always do at this time when the red phone starts ringing. Spyro picks it up and answers it.

"Hello?" He says into it.

"Spyro, I'm glad I reached you, I'm sure you've noticed that Flare has gone missing." says Ignitus over the phone

"Yeah, that's not like her at all" Cynder says hearing everything Ignitus is saying to Spyro via the red phone on _her_ desk. "What's going on?"

"All we know is she left her dorm last night at about 8:30 p.m., as she said she was going to a party with friends, and she hasn't been seen since." he said as he relays all the information of the case.

"Okay, what're we supposed to do?" Spyro asks Ignitus over the phone.

"We need you to investigate Flare's disappearance and hopefully prevent others from meeting the same fate" he says

"We're on it." Both Spyro and Cynder say in unison over their respective red phones before rushing off to Ignitus' office to get the full case file.

As they rush off, the scene fades to a small warehouse filled with shelves lined with vintage toys and novelty items. In front of one of the shelves is what looks like a mannequin in the form of a red dragoness. The "mannequin" is wearing a red silken dress with yellow and black accents. There's a red bow attached to the dragoness' horn, making her look like a doll. But however, this is not a doll, as the face looks too familiar. For as no-one knows yet, except you loyal reader, this "mannequin" is FLARE!

And in the background, we see the same figure from the previous night, along with his mystery powder horn looking at a mirror, and in the mirror is a wall of flames with what looks like a face made of smoke in it.

"Faust! Why do you linger there?!" the mysterious figure says as the mysterious dragon removes his hat, revealing a coat of dark blue and purplish scales.

"Have patience, my lord, your wait will soon be over. Thanks to this powder horn you gave me, I've managed to gather the souls of five dragonesses already." Faust responds as he flicks on a light revealing the four other dragonesses who suffered Flare's fate.

"Do not forget, I cannot be released until you have gathered the souls of 15 dragonesses." The figure tells Faust.

"Do not worry, I'll have the last 10 souls as soon as I find them and reduce them to my soulless dolls, then soon, Lord Malefor, the world will be yours" says Faust to the figure in the mirror as he kneels in respect

"Indeed it will, Faust, indeed it will." Malefor tells his apparent servant as the scene fades to black.

**Creepy! Now you know why I titled this story ****The Doll Collector****! But nobody saw it coming that he'd be working for MALEFOR! Isn't he supposed to be dead?! You'll have to tune in to the next chapter to find out!**


	3. Connecting the Cases

Chapter 2: **I**nvestigating the Scene

After rushing off to Ignitus' office last chapter, Spyro and Cynder arrive at their destination. Here we see the briefing of the kidnapping case.

"Okay, here's what we know." Ignitus says, handing a docket of information to Spyro and Cynder.

"Last night, Flare left the party she was attending and started to head home when, according to witnesses, a horse-drawn carriage pulled up alongside her, the occupant of which we think was trying to offer her shelter from the storm, and a few minutes later, there's a flash of light from the carriage and Flare's uniform ends up on the sidewalk." he says, finishing the crime scene report.

"Hmmm… sounds like a real brainteaser, let's head out the crime scene and see what we can find out." Spyro tells his companions

"Wait, have the police cordoned off the site?" Cynder asks Ignitus

"Yes, as soon as we told them the life of who knows how many innocents may be involved, they prepared the scene for your arrival" Ignitus tells his daughter.

"Alright, thanks dad!" Cynder responds.

Spyro and Cynder rush off to investigate the crime scene, and a few seconds later they arrive at the same piece of sidewalk from which Flare was abducted. A few police officers are keeping the area closed off to civilians.

"You guys can head back to base, we've got this covered." Spyro tells the two police officers as they head off, but one stays back to hand something to Cynder.

"Wait, Cynder, you'll need this later in your investigation." The officer who stayed back tells her as he hands her a dossier full of information from other investigations.

"Thanks officer, I'll show this to Spyro right away." Cynder tells the officer in response.

As Cynder arrives at the general area of the crime scene, she hands Spyro the dossier full of information.

"Spyro, one of the officers said we might need this." She says as she hands Spyro the dossier.

"Thanks, Cynder. Before we examine this, let's see what the crime scene has to tell us." Spyro says as he begins searching around with a little magnifying glass, and finds what looks like a scale left over from when the abductor threw the uniform back to the pavement.

"Wait a second, what's this?" Spyro asks as he picks up the scale and shows it to Cynder.

"It looks like a dragon scale, I'd say he's shadow elemental, due to the bluish-purple coloration, and probably in his mid-to-late 20's due to the length at about half an inch." Cynder says, completing her analysis of the scale.

"Well, that narrows down our investigation quite a bit. Thanks, Cynder" Spyro tells Cynder as they wrap up their investigation, due to the area being so small.

"I think It's time we got back to the Academy and examined this Dossier." Cynder says as they start to leave the scene.

A few minutes later, we arrive at Spyro and Cynder's shared office at the Academy, where Spyro is at his desk, examining the contents of the dossier.

"Hmm… these cases all seem similar to Flare's case, four dragonesses age 17 or younger, all wandering the streets at the same time of night." Spyro says, reading the contents

"All four were offered either shelter or a ride to their destinations by a mysterious dragon in a horse-drawn carriage, which lingered on the block for a few minutes, followed by a flash of light from inside the carriage and their school uniforms being thrown onto the street followed by the carriage leaving the scene" Cynder says, finishing Spyro's examination of the case.

"This is totally strange, these four cases are strikingly similar to ours; could they be connected?" Cynder says as one of the Academy Guardsmen enters the room with an urgent message.

"Spyro! Cynder! Another disappearance, conditions are the same as the Flare case! Your needed to investigate!" Says the guard to Spyro and Cynder with enough urgency to startle a crowd.

"Were on it!" Spyro and Cynder say in unison as they rush out the door with the guard.

Spyro and Cynder arrive at the Crime Scene to find probably the largest kidnapping they've seen in their careers. 9 Academy uniforms are laying on the sidewalk, and Ignitus is there, ready to brief Spyro and Cynder on what the heck happened.

"This is probably the worst kidnapping I've seen in my career." Ignitus says as he sees Spyro and Cynder arrive on the scene.

"Ignitus, what happened here?" Spyro asks his long time mentor, who almost died during Malefor's last attack.

"A group of 10 dragonesses were gathered here for some unknown reason, when the same carriage that was seen at Flare's kidnapping. The lone survivor said that she and her friends lost their map to their location, and apparently whoever was in the carriage offered them a ride to their location, 9 of them accepted, and before the carriage left, 9 flashes of light were seen behind the blinds of the carriage, and then as the carriage pulled away, nine academy uniforms were seen being thrown out of the carriage a few feet away, alias where we are now" Ignitus tells them.

"Do we have any clues as to who the kidnapper is?" Cynder asks Ignitus to try and get more information.

"Yes we do actually, there was a little poem left behind by the kidnapper, here it is." Ignitus says as he leaves the scene to let Spyro and Cynder investigate.

"Hmmm… this is probably the strangest clue ever." Spyro tells Cynder as begins to examine the poem.

"'The twin demons crumble in Warfang's bloody frame. When 1500 hours she strikes, I'll never sleep again' You're right, this is strange. What on earth does this mean?" Cynder responds, after reading the poem.

The two begin their examination of the scene as the scene changes to the same toy warehouse from earlier, where we again see Faust talking to Malefor through the mirror.

"You have done well, Faust. You've already collected 14 of the 15 souls needed to release me." Malefor tells his apparent servant

"Lord Malefor, I have seen nobody who has the purest soul of the 15 victims. But I also bear bad news, Spyro and Cynder have been called in to investigate these kidnappings." Faust tells his master, with a tone of regret in his voice.

"What!" Malefor screams at Faust, definitely sounding like he has a bee in his bonnet. "How can you let them be on this case!?"

"I had no way to control their connection to the investigation, Lord Malefor." He tells his master.

"Wait a second, I have a brilliant idea." Malefor tells Faust from his purgatory-like dimension.

"What do you have in store for them, now Lord Malefor?" Faust asks his trapped master.

"You will see when the time comes, Faust, you will see." Malefor tells Faust with a hint of suspense in his voice.

**(Screams) This is got to be the scariest part of the whole story! What is Malefor's plan to collect the 15 soul? What is the meaning of the poem?! Anyways, onto lighter matters, If you haven't noticed, there's actually a Justice League reference in this story. If you can find it, your OC, if you have one, will be used in my next drama fanfiction! Good Luck!**


	4. The 15th Soul

Chapter 3: Victim Numb**e**r 15

Spyro and Cynder have only been on this case for a day, and already they've learned of 14 disappearances! Due to all this, both Spyro and Cynder are a bit stressed out. So what do the two greatest heroes Antichthon have ever known do at this moment? What else, practice their elemental attacks! We enter the scene as Spyro is using a Comet Dash on one of the many training Dummies while Cynder is using Shadow Fire on another one.

"I don't get it." Cynder says after destroying the dummy with shadow fire.

"Yeah, I don't either." Spyro says in response.

"Who on earth is doing this, and why?" Cynder asks, as if talking to The Ancestors themselves.

"Something tells me that scale from the scene of Flare's abduction could give us the clue we need to solve this case." Spyro responds.

"You're right! I totally forgot about that! Let's get back to the lab and see if we can ID this mystery criminal." Cynder tells her boyfriend as they rush off to the Academy lab.

As they rush off to the lab, Faust, the kidnapper, enters the building, looking for his next victim. Of course, nobody notices that he's actually missing a scale, which is the one that Spyro and Cynder have in the lab.

Meanwhile in the lab, Spyro and Cynder have finished the DNA analysis of the scale.

"Hmm… apparently this scale belongs to a Shadow-Elemental dragon by the name of Faust." Spyro says reading the analysis report.

"Let me see what I can find about this Faust character." Cynder says as she starts to examine Faust's background. "He was the landlord for a warehouse belonging to a "Blast from the Past Toy Company" that went bust last year. Apparently he later purchased the warehouse and became and hasn't been seen since."

"Hmm… This Faust character sounds like he may be our kidnapper, but is there anything suspicious about him?" Spyro asks Cynder after hearing the history.

"Nothing I can find. Wait a second! Shortly after he purchased the warehouse, he started studying the arcane sciences. " Cynder responds with urgency in her voice.

"Hmm… a dragon who buys the warehouse he's been the landlord of for who knows how long and starts studying the arcane sciences, and then all of a sudden these kidnappings start happening? There's no way these instances aren't connected!" Spyro tells Cynder.

"We should talk to this Faust guy as soon as possible." Cynder tells Spyro as Faust appears on the security monitor.

"Isn't that him on the security monitor?" Spyro asks as Faust enters the laboratory.

"Yes, yes it is." Faust says as he enters the lab, mysterious powder horn in hand.

"Mr. Faust, we were just about to call you. We believe you are the suspect in 14 kidnappings spanning the course of several days. Do you have anything to say about this?" Cynder asks the suspect.

"Yes, I am the one who perpetrated them in the first place!" Faust responds

"Alright then, where are your victims!?" Spyro asks as he confronts the criminal

"Like I'd just give that away!" Faust says as he takes out a handful of strange seeds. "Ampaloy!"

Faust throws the seeds to the ground, and in seconds they sprout up into vines and entangle themselves around Spyro, but not Cynder strangely.

"Come my dear, we mustn't keep your master waiting!" he says as he grabs Cynder by the hand and takes her from the room, causing the vines to die as he leaves.

As the vines die, Spyro is dropped to the ground and Sparx enters the room wondering what on earth happened.

"Spyro, dude, what the heck happened here!?" Sparx asks as he floats into the room.

"The kidnapper came in and after tangling me up in a vine trap, kidnapped Cynder!" Spyro responds to his brother's inquiry.

"That can't be good. But, if he is the kidnapper, where on earth is he going?" Sparx says to his brother.

"There's only one place he could be going, the warehouse of the defunct Blast from the Past toy company, which he apparently now calls home." Spyro responds to his brother's inquiry

"As much as I normally would hate to have to rescue that she-devil, I'm in." Sparx tells his brother half-heartedly.

As the two of them leave the lab, we are transported to Faust's warehouse where he's got Cynder bound to a nearby post, where she notices his handiwork.

"I'm only going to ask you this once. What have you done to these poor dragonesses, you sicko!?" Cynder asks her captor angrily.

"I've simply struck a bargain with an old friend of yours." Faust explains to his captive.

"You fool! You struck a bargain with Malefor!?" Cynder responds half in shock, and half in fear.

"Who else?" Faust responds.

As Faust is talking to Cynder, Spyro and Sparx burst in, ready for the rescue.

"Oh dear, my guests have arrived and I haven't had time to drain Cynder's soul yet! I guess I have to drain it on my way to Lord Malefor!" Faust tells himself as he grabs Cynder and begins to walk through the mirror. "Ta ta!"

As the fiend escapes, Spyro and Sparx find out what he did with the victims, allowing him to get away.

"Whoa, these are the creepiest mannequins I have ever seen." Sparx tells himself, not knowing Spyro heard him.

"Sparx, these aren't mannequins, these are the victims!" Spyro replies as he finally figures out the fate of the missing dragonesses.

"Wait, what!? How did he pull that off?!" Sparx responds with fear and shock in his voice

"I'm not sure." Spyro replies as he starts to think about the whole thing. "When 1500 hours she strikes, I'll never sleep again. I get it!"

"Get what?" Sparx asks

"The riddle left at the last kidnapping! I heard Faust say he struck a deal with Malefor's spirit. The bargain must have been to become immortal, or "never sleep" in exchange for 15 souls!" Spyro answers his brother's query. "But it couldn't be, that doesn't make any sense." Spyro corrects himself.

"We've got to stop him, as much as I'm going to despise this adventure in the morning for saving that she-devil." Sparx says, mostly to himself

"Then let's go!" Spyro says as he runs through the mirror, with Sparx following behind but a bit too late.

"Seriously!?" Sparx says as he runs into the mirror after Spyro runs through it.

**Okay, now Spyro's on a quest to save his girlfriend from Faust and Malefor's ghost apparently. Since the chapter is over, I may as well make an announcement. I recently got a review asking me how human-like I was making these characters. The answer to your question is their not anthropomorphic at all, just because their wearing top hats and answering telephones doesn't mean they are at all humanized. As for why I'm writing this here instead of in the Sonic fanfiction archive, it's because not a lot of fanfictions here show how clever and brilliant Spyro and Cynder can be, so I'm trying to show that myself. Anyways, to see how the whole thing turns out, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	5. Decent into Hell

Chapter 4: Descent **i**nto Hell

As we venture through the mystical mirror in Faust's warehouse, we arrive in a fiery land that reeks of brimstone. If the title didn't give it away, our location is pretty obvious. Yes, Faust has taken Cynder along with the souls of his previous 14 victims to Hell, not at all surprising considering he's working for Malefor.

"Why are you doing this?!" Cynder asks her captor, with slight notes of fear and anger in her voice.

Faust turns around, a look of disgust upon his face. "Why do you think?! Didn't you read the note at the last crime scene?! "When 1500 hours she strikes, I'll never sleep again" Think about it!" he tells Cynder as he continues to drag her downward and downward towards the depths of Hell.

Shortly after Faust and Cynder leave, Spyro arrives, gagging on the scent of brimstone everywhere. "Oh man, why did it have to be Hell?" he asks himself as the mirror portal behind him ripples again. "Who's there?!" He asks, rapidly turning around to see who just came through, noticing a yellow, sparkling light entering. "Sparx!?"

"Yep, it's me, Spyro!" Sparx tells his brother as he begins circling his brother's head like he always does in the games.

"How did you through the portal, I saw it ripple closed after I left!" Spyro questions his brother.

"I really don't know, but somehow it allowed me through." Sparx answers.

"Okay, now that that question's answered, there's only one left." Spyro mentions as he and Sparx begin their pursuit of Faust.

"What's that?" Sparx asks.

"Why? What is Faust's motive?" Spyro responds to Sparx's question with a question of his own. After thinking about it for a few minutes, he figures it out. " I've got it!"

"What?" Sparx asks

"Faust's motive! Remember that poem left at the scene of the "mass soul theft"? The answer lies there! First: The Twin Demons is an obvious reference to Cynder and myself. Second: The term "Bloody Frame" confused me for the longest time, but it refers to framing us with something, no doubt these kidnappings. Third: 1500 hours refers to the number of victims, 15. And Finally: The phrase "I'll never sleep again" refers to his motive! Immortality! Faust struck a deal with Malefor to gain immortal life, or to "never sleep again" in exchange for 15 souls!" Spyro says, explaining his reasoning to his step-brother.

"Wow, that actually makes sense. But if that's the case, why didn't Faust drain Cynder's soul right then and there? Why take her hostage?" Sparx responds.

"I have a theory about that. Faust wanted to drain Cynder's soul in Malefor's presence, so he could personally see one his greatest threats perish right in front of his face." Spyro tells Sparx.

"As much as I hate Cynder, I hate Malefor more, so let's get down there and rescue that She-Devil." Sparx says with a bit of regret in his voice.

"I really wish you'd stop calling Cynder that!" Spyro tells his brother as they set off in pursuit of Faust.

**Wow. And now Spyro's Journey begins! And now there's something I missed when I wrote this, there's actually a reference to a Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode throughout a lot of the story. If you can find it, I'll put your OC, if you have one, into my next tale! Good luck! Also, sorry I haven't updated this story in the longest time, I've just had a really hectic schedule and now that my mom had surgery on her leg, it's about to get crazier. Anyways, to continue the journey and see if Spyro rescues his beloved Cynder, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	6. Catching up with Faust

Chapter 5: Catching up w**i**th Faust

As our hero rushes off to save the dragoness he loves, we catch up with Faust and his captive as they are nearing Malefor's prison near the very center of Hell itself. Of course, Faust is irritated at Cynder's lack of cooperation. Well, hey, Faust, if you were kidnapped, would you be cooperative with whoever it was who did this to you? I didn't think so.

"Just a little bit further, then Lord Malefor will be free!" Faust tells himself to renew his confidence.

"You're even crazier than I thought! You'd be foolish to take a deal with Malefor; he'll just backstab you in the end!" Cynder tells her captor and tormentor.

"Will you please just, SHUT UP!?" Faust yells to Cynder "You are so annoying, you know that?!"

"I get that a lot." She responds.

As Faust is about to smack Cynder across the face, he notices a menacing shadow appearing over him. He looks upwards towards the ledge he just traversed down to see Spyro standing a top it.

"You know not the fury I know hath, let go of Cynder or face my wrath!" Spyro tells Faust

"I think Cynder's actually safer with me than with you, demon." Faust tells Spyro as he takes out his skull-topped cane and uses it to shoot synthetic lightning at Spyro, which he dodges by taking flight.

"Synthetic Lightning? This guy's cleverer than I thought." Spyro thinks to himself as he flies around his foe, dodging bolt after bolt, until landing a devastating kick.

"Okay, that was a lucky shot, but you'll never get past this!" Faust tells Spyro as he takes a large ring out of his robe and throws it to the ground, causing a blue troll, those are the ape like enemies in Dawn of the Dragon, to appear out of the ground.

"Okay, that's a new one." Sparx tells his brother as they both jump out of the way of a crashing troll fist. In the meantime, Sparx flies up to Faust and starts punching him in the face, which feels like almost nothing to him.

"What use do you have for stolen souls!?" Sparx asks Faust with a hint of rage as he continues to punch his face.

"I need them because unlike you, I have no intention of dying, ever. Now go away, you little pest!" Faust says as he hits Sparx with his cane and sends him flying all the way back through the mirror portal that brought them here to start with.

Meanwhile, Spyro still has to deal with the troll. "Okay, now how in the world do I beat this thing?" He asks himself, trying to remember exactly how to defeat a blue troll. "Wait, I've got it! Yank the ring from its nose, then back to the pit the troll goes!" Spyro tells himself. Spyro then flies up the troll's face and grabs onto the ring in its nose. "This is for my brother!" he tells the troll, who is by the way too stupid to understand what he's saying since it literally doesn't have a brain, as he flies upward, removing the ring from its nose then tosses it away out of disgust as soon as he lands. The troll then dissolves into dust as Faust grabs Cynder again and gets away.

As they do, Spyro notices Sparx got hit back to the other side of the mirror. "Okay, Faust got away again." Spyro tells himself. "But when I catch him again, he's going down!" After saying these exact words, Spyro runs off in the direction of his adversary.

**Okay! That was one pulse pounding chapter! Now before I do anything else, I should probably note that I've given up trying to see if anybody can guess the reference mentioned last chapter, so I'm just going to give you the site where you can find it. Also, to envision the fight with the troll, just skip forward in the video a bit and replace the beast they're fighting with a troll. Okay? Cool. Here's the link: ** batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-season-1-episode-15-trials-of-the-demon **To see if Spyro can defeat the evil Faust and rescue Cynder, tune in next chapter, Same Time, Same Channel!**


	7. Gaining the 15th Soul

Chapter 6: **G**etting the 15th Soul

As Spyro rushes forward with Determination to capture Faust, we arrive ever closer to the center of Hell, where Malefor was locked away after his defeat.

"Almost there, soon I will be Immortal!" Faust tells Cynder, not only to cause her to lose hope, but to boost his own spirit.

"You can't seriously go through with this! Malefor will betray you in the end!" Cynder tells her captor, hoping to talk a little bit of sense into him.

"Okay, I have had enough of your complaining." Faust tells Cynder as he pulls out the powder horn he used to drain his previous 14 victims of their souls.

"You wouldn't dare!" Cynder cries out as Faust opens the front of the powder horn.

"Watch me." He says as the powder horn drains Cynder's soul right out of her. "I was intending to give your soul to Lord Malefor personally. But this will have to do." He tells himself as he drops Cynder's body behind him as he advances on deeper into Hell. "Well, that'll make the journey go a lot faster" he says from a distance.

Shortly after this, Spyro runs onto the scene, only to find Cynder in the catatonic state Faust left her in. Upon seeing Cynder in this seemingly peaceful, trance-like state, he slowly begins to break down in tears, for he at this moment thinks he has failed her, failed to rescue her when she needed him the most. "This can't be happening!" he thinks to himself, considering he can't very well speak and be understood when he's crying.

After a few seconds of tearing up, Spyro picks himself up. He has the look of determination and sheer rage in his eyes. "Okay, that's it! Nobody steals the soul of the Dragoness I love and gets away with it!

After noting his rage to no-one, Spyro picks up the catatonic Cynder and rests her on his back. "I may have failed to rescue you, Cynder, but I will stop Faust before he releases Malefor." He tells his catatonic love as he continues on his way to the center of Hell.

**(Starts crying) What a touching scene. I told myself I would cry. Anyways, you may have notices some random letters in the titles of my chapters being bolded and underlined. Keep mind of those letters. Write them down or something, as they are part of a puzzle to discover my biggest hidden inspiration. Also, sorry for this chapter being so short and for the whole story being the same way. But in my defense, I am not used to writing a Fanfiction in this style; I'm more used to script writing. And trust me, some of my stories written that way were at one point 112 pages long. Believe me. Anyways, the story of The Doll Collector is coming to an end, and to see how the final battle goes down, tune in next chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	8. The Final Battle

Chapter 7: The Center of **H**ell

After we see Spyro "rescuing" his catatonic beloved, Cynder, we see him catching up to Faust as he's leaping across a lake of lava on the rocks nearby. Spyro sets Cynder down for a few minutes to judge the odds of shooting a fireball at him. "He's out of my range, I'd best not take my chances. I may hit the powder horn and possibly loose Cynder's soul forever." He tells himself as Faust crosses the river of lava.

Spyro then flies over the aforementioned river and slams right into Faust, causing him to lose the powder horn. "You fool!" he tells Spyro "You have jeopardized my chance at immortality!" Faust then runs to pick up the powder horn. Spyro almost manages to stop him, until Malefor arises from the river of lava. Apparently when he was dragged down to the core of their world, which is called Hell by Dragonkind for some reason, he was revealed to be a demon of some sort.

"Well, well, well" he says "If it isn't the Purple Dragon of Legend. What have you, come to Hell to slay your greatest adversary once and for all? Good Luck, you'll need it!"

"Let me just tell you this, Malefor, dragonkind hasn't missed you one bit!" Spyro says as he releases stream of fire breath into Malefor's face. "You purple fool! I was born of flame!" Malefor tells Spyro as he swats our purple hero away with is tail.

"Lord Malefor, I've fulfilled my end of the bargain, now I suggest you keep yours." Faust tells his master. "Ah yes, where are my manners. I almost forgot about our bargain. Very well then, your soul shall never perish from this earth." Malefor tells Faust as he casts a spell on him, causing him to feel younger than ever so it would seem.

"You're a foolish man to make that deal. Malefor's promises are never real!" Spyro says as he charges back at Faust, grabbing the powder horn without Faust knowing it.

"Faust! I've given you what you've asked for, now I suggest you do the same." Malefor tells Faust, demanding the souls Faust had captured."

"Coming right up, Lord Malefor." Faust tells his master as he reaches into his robes to find that Spyro has swiped the powder horn. "Where is it?!"

"This foolish dragon bought your lies, but now it is me who holds the prize!" Spyro yells to the skies as he holds up the powder horn.

"No!" Faust yells in terror for his life.

"Give me that POWDER HORN!" Malefor yells out as he charges from the lava he emerged from, trying to get the powder horn from Spyro. As Spyro lands, he gets an idea that's so crazy it just might work. Malefor then turns around trying to capture the powder horn from Spyro, but our hero manages to dodge Malefor's attack just in the nick of time, enabling him to grab Faust's cane, which for note is made of Ancestral Iron, the only material that can kill Malefor.

As Spyro handles the cane, a voice in the back of his head says something which literally is Spyro's whole plan. "Throw the cane with all your might! Use the Ancestral Iron to end this fight!" Spyro is not aware of this voice, but it's actually Ignitus speaking to him the way the Chronicler used to. As Spyro prepares to put his plan into action, Malefor charges at him. Spyro dodges in a very artful manner.

Malefor then crash lands into a nearby rock formation, but he's far from defeated. "Get used to the fire Spyro, for I am bringing Hell to the surface!" he says, taunting his foe. "Taste the burn of Ancestral Iron, you demon!" Spyro says, throwing the cane with all his might, right down Malefor's throat at that. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Malefor cries out in pain. "ANCESTRAL IRON! IT BURNS!" Shortly after swallowing the cane, Malefor dissolves into a pile of dust.

"Lord Malefor!" Faust cries out as his master is defeated. "Game Over, Faust." Spyro says as he lands. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Faust says as he reaches into his robes for one final trick, but then realizes he's got none left.

"Like I said, it's over. Come along quietly." Spyro tells the wicked "sorcerer". "NEVER!" Faust yells as he tries to run away, but ends up nearly falling into the magma around him since he didn't watch where he was going. Spyro then walks up to the "sorcerer" and slaps a pair of handcuffs on him. "Now to release the souls you've stolen." Spyro tells Faust. He then opens the powder horn, releasing all the souls that Faust had stolen. 14 of them obviously went back the way he came from, in order to return to their bodies. The only one that didn't flew over towards the catatonic Cynder, and then restored her to life.

"What happened?" Cynder asks Spyro as she awakens from a prolonged slumber. "I'll explain everything when we get back to Warfang." Spyro tells her as they take Faust on the long journey back to the surface world.

**Wow! That was the craziest thing I've ever written, if I do say so myself! Now there's only on chapter left, and that will close off this tale. But be warned, if you think Malefor is dead… Oops, I almost spoiled the final chapter! Silly me! To see this story's ending, tune in for the final chapter. Same Time, Same Channel!**


	9. Return to Warfang

Epilogue: **R**eturn to Warfang

As Spyro and Cynder begin their journey back to the surface, Sparx has called Ignitus, saying their kidnapper will be captured very soon.

"Sparx, you'd better be right about this." Ignitus tells the dragonfly who called him here.

"I know Spyro has Faust in custody by now. They'll be coming through that mirror any minute now." Sparx tells him.

Just as soon as Sparx says that, the souls of the 14 previous victims exit the mirror portal and return to their bodies. "What the heck happened?" Flare says. This is the first time she's spoken since the first chapter. "And what the heck am I wearing!?" she says noting the dress she was wearing.

"Don't worry, young lady, we'll explain everything later." Ignitus tells her. As soon as all 14 souls have returned to their bodies, which took about 5 minutes, the mirror portal begins to ripple a bit.

"Here they come now!" Sparx says as he notices the mirror. As soon as Ignitus turns to look, Faust is thrown through the mirror, handcuffed.

"Well, well, well. So you fancy yourself a "doll collector" eh?" Ignitus asks the prisoner as Spyro and Cynder start to walk through the mirror portal.

"Well he's going to have plenty of time to build up his collection, from his cell at Warfang Penitentiary!" Spyro says as he and Cynder walk back to the real world.

"Excellent job you two! Now that this guy is behind bars, I think you've earned a bit of a rest." Ignitus tells Spyro and Cynder as Faust is taken to a waiting car outside the warehouse. "And now, I think it's time I got back to the Academy and started making tomorrow's lesson plan." Ignitus says as he leaves the warehouse.

"So, now what do we do?" Cynder asks as the others leave the warehouse.

"I've still got a pair of tickets to that antique doll show that came to town yesterday. What do you think?" Spyro asks as he pulls out two tickets.

"Please, I think we've had enough of dolls for one day, especially after I nearly became one." Cynder responds.

"Fair enough. Let's get back home." Spyro responds. As they start to leave, Spyro finds a box on one of the shelves. "What's this?" he asks as he opens the box, revealing a slip of paper in it. "After collecting the 15 souls, go to the jewelry shop at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut in Warfang, and hand in this slip of paper." Spyro reads. "Maybe I should just see what this' about."

After Spyro leaves the warehouse, he shortly arrives at the aforementioned jewelry store and turns the paper in to the clerk standing behind the counter. After walking into the back room, the clerk returns with a box containing a diamond engagement ring. "Wait, why was Faust ordering an engagement ring?" Spyro asks himself as he examines the ring. "I'd best hold onto it. Maybe I could use it to propose to Cynder later." He says as he heads back to the Academy, which is only a short run away.

As Spyro runs back to the Academy, we find ourselves in a dark cave, which suddenly fills with dark smoke. Later, the 9-pointed Star, the symbol for the 9 Elements, appears on the floor. Suddenly the smoke takes on a draconian form with dark yellow eyes and reptilian pupils. "That fool thought he could defeat me!? He doesn't know how wrong he was." The figure says. The figure then begins to laugh demonically as the scene fades out.

**And that is the end of ****The Doll Collector****! I hope you all enjoyed it! As the description says, this is the first part of the New Spyro Chronicles. After the main quest is completed, it'll just turn into a series of one-shots that describe Spyro and Cynder's lives. In the meantime, keep an eye pealed for Part 2 in the series, "The Dragon and the Blade!" Now about that mysterious figure, remember how I almost spoiled this chapter in the previous one? Well, this is a prime example of Dramatic Irony, as you can probably guess that the figure here is Malefor! What is his plan this time?! Also, the underlined letters, when rearranged, spell the word "Alighieri", which is the last name of Dante, the author of Dante's Inferno! And if you'll also notice, there are nine chapters in this story, one for each circle of Hell as listed in Dante's Inferno! Now, if you want to find out Malefor's plan, tune in to Part 2. Same Time, Same Channel!**


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